Dec. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co. and its engineers union,
at odds over a new contract, suspended talks for the remainder
of this year at the request of federal mediators.

Both Boeing and the Society of Professional Engineering
Employees in Aerospace agreed to the suspension of talks, and
the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service will work with
both sides to schedule new negotiations next year, service
Director George H. Cohen said yesterday in a statement.

Doug Alder, a spokesman for Chicago-based Boeing, and Ray
Goforth, the union’s executive director, each forwarded the
mediator’s statement and declined to comment on it.

The 23,000 engineers and technical workers represented by
the union, largely in the Seattle area where Boeing’s commercial
headquarters are located, have been working without a contract.
Their last agreement expired Oct. 6 and was extended through
Nov. 25 after they rejected Boeing’s first offer.

Goforth said Nov. 20 that it was increasingly likely he’d
seek strike authorization from members once the extension ran
out, though any walkout wouldn’t occur until after Boeing’s
companywide, two-week holiday break in December.

The union objects to Boeing’s plan to slow salary growth
and switch new hires into a 401(k)-style retirement program,
rather than the current pension plan. Boeing has countered that
the cost of engineering in Seattle has risen and that it may
have to do development work on future airliners at less-expensive sites.

Speea, as the union is known, encouraged engineers to
refuse voluntary overtime and to “work to rule” to slow down
the development and deliveries of jets. Speea has struck at
Boeing only twice since its 1946 founding: for one day in 1993
and 40 days in 2000.

Boeing’s engineers design new planes, inspect those being
built and sign off on the work before aircraft are delivered.
That means they’re critical to the company as it boosts
production by 60 percent in the four years through 2014 and
develops five new variants of existing models.